Kongo: Bellator fight with Graham will be last against fighter on same team

Heavyweight Chieck Kongo has never trained with his opponent tonight at Bellator 107, Peter Graham.

However, the former kickboxer is a member of Kongo’s longtime MMA team, Wolfslair MMA. Graham stepped up as a short-notice replacement when tournament finalist Vinicius Queiroz was forced to withdraw from the Season 9 tournament with an injury.

Although Kongo wasn’t a close training partner of Graham, the switch put him in a slightly difficult spot.

“It was a really bad day for our manager, because we’re not in that position,” Kongo told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “We are family and don’t fight. But at that time, we [wanted] to finish the final.”

Kongo (19-8-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will put aside his feelings about the situation when he and Graham (9-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) meet in the cage, but he said he doesn’t want to fight anybody else from his team.

“It’s not the first time, but it will be the last one,” Kongo said.

Bellator 107 takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. Bellator 107’s main card airs live on Spike TV (9 p.m. ET) following prelims on Spike.com (7 p.m. ET).

The 38-year-old Kongo is the same age as Graham, but his training differs in that he spent far more time in a cage than in a ring. In MMA, he’s developed a wrestling and submission game, though he said fans still mistake him for a pure striker.

“I’ve got skills,” he said. “In the UFC, people used to see me a different way, like a striker. But many times, I tried to use [my grappling]. I got injured, so it wasn’t easy for me to use everything with the right potential. For that one, I tried my best to be comfortable and stay safe and stay away from injuries.”

Kongo used his clinch skills to neutralize opponent Mark Godbeer before unloading knees and punches that earned him a knockout win in the tournament semifinals. While the gameplan wasn’t lauded by MMA observers, it did accomplish the task of keeping him healthy for the tournament finals.

“I had to do my job, so in some ways it’s pretty satisfying,” Kongo said. “I’m really happy and comfy. I’m here to win and keep going on my track of really good work.”

And while talk of retirement continues to follow him as he nears the 13th year of his professional MMA career, he said the Bellator belt will keep him in the game for the foreseeable future.

“I think as a fighter, everybody thinks about [retirement],” Kongo said. “The fights are getting bigger and bigger. But right now, I’m just focused on the business, on the Bellator belt. I’ll do my thing, and if I win it, I’ll defend it for sure. But right now, it’s not in my mind.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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